Grand Canyon Times

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) is scheduled to speak at an elections conference run by a lawyer who has been described as a “hard-core leftist” who “hates conservatives." 

“He’s a hard-core leftist,” Brad Schlozman, former acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, told Legal Newsline about David Becker, founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), which is hosting the elections conference.

"Hates conservatives," added Schlozman of Becker. The two men previously worked together in the Civil Rights Division.

Becker's organization, which received $50 million in 2020 from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, is hosting the "Summit on American Democracy" May 8-9, 2023 in Washington, D.C. The summit website says participants will "discuss pressing issues, and share actionable ideas to further strengthen our democracy in a bipartisan and nonpartisan way."

A spokesperson for Fontes told the Grand Canyon Times that Fontes’ panel at the summit "will be a discussion about opportunities for bipartisan cooperation on elections.”

Also on the agenda are Maricopa County Director of Elections Reynaldo "Rey" Valenzuela, and Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates. 

Valenzuela's office told the Grand Canyon Times that Valenzuela “will be participating in a panel that covers opportunities for bipartisan cooperation.”

A spokesperson for Gates said, “Supervisor Gates is participating on a panel discussing threats and harassment to elections officials. He will discuss the threats he and other Maricopa County officials and workers have received and the impact those threats have on administering elections.”

Becker's ERIC Resignation

Becker was in the news recently regarding his resignation from the board of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), an organization he co-founded. His resignation came after four states resigned from ERIC in March 2023 alone.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank La Rose cited ERIC's "hyper-partisan allies" as a reason for his state's resignation from the program.

"I cannot justify the use of Ohio’s tax dollars for an organization that seems intent on rejecting meaningful accountability, publicly maligning my motives, and waging a relentless campaign of misinformation about this effort," wrote La Rose in a letter to Shane Hamlin, executive director of ERIC. "The conduct of ERIC and some of its hyper-partisan allies in recent weeks only heightens my suspicion and reinforces my decision."

Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia also resigned their memberships in March. Alabama and Louisiana resigned their memberships in January, with Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin citing "partisan concerns."

"The announcement comes amid concerns raised by citizens, government watchdog organizations and media reports about potential questionable funding sources and that possibly partisan actors may have access to ERIC network data for political purposes, potentially undermining voter confidence," said Ardoin in a press release.

CNN reported, "The controversy swirling around the group also prompted David Becker – a founder of ERIC – to announce this week that he was resigning his non-voting position on the group’s board after conservatives claimed his presence had injected partisanship in the group." 

The Texas legislature is also considering legislation to withdraw from ERIC.

DOJ Controversy

Schlozman's dealings with Becker came while Becker worked as a senior trial attorney in the Voting Section of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Schlozman discussed with Legal Newsline an event that led to Becker's actions being "reported to the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility."

“In 2005, while working as a trial attorney in the Voting Section of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, Becker contacted the city of Boston offering his services to defeat a lawsuit brought by the DOJ for voting rights infractions, according to two former DOJ officials during the Bush Administration. His actions were reported to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR),” reported Legal Newsline.

“It was the most unethical thing I’ve ever seen,” said Schlozman. “Classic case of someone who should have been disbarred.”

Hans von Spakovsky, who worked at the Justice Department as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, told Legal Newsline of Becker, “In his role with the DOJ, he was supposed to be non-partisan, but his emails uncovered in the Boston investigation revealed nasty, disparaging remarks about Republicans. Very unethical and unprofessional. I would never hire or trust him.”

Becker previously worked as a campaign director of the Democracy Campaign at People for the American Way (PFAW). InfluenceWatch describes PFAW as “a left-of-center advocacy group formed in 1981 by liberal Hollywood television producer Norman Lear, ostensibly to oppose the conservative principles espoused by Christian conservative televangelists.”

The CEIR "summit" will be live-streamed, but the agenda on the event website does not list the times during which Fontes, Valenzuela, and Gates will speak.

Update: Story updated with statement from Maricopa Supervisor Bill Gates.